Hard for the sake of being hard

Hard for the sake of being hard

Life is hard. Sometimes we make it harder than it needs to be. Actually, often we make it harder than it needs to be. In daily life this can be for a handful of reasons including:

The sense of the importance of each tasks becomes inflated. Simple tasks like picking up groceries can become stressful if it feels like the success of the days rests on every task. In some sense when the completing the list becomes the ultimate goal completing list can its own stressful task.

The importance of our role in the task becomes inflated. I always find it funny when I get sick and the world keeps moving just fine. Progress is still make, nothing falls apart, and sometimes, people barely notice I’m not there. Humbling and relieving at the same time.

The amount that we can affect the outcome becomes inflated. Sometimes watching stats in real time, whether that be a sports game, election results, or stock prices, it seems like I can push result one way or another by elevating my blood pressure. That is, that the more I stress about an outcome the more likely it is to come out in my favor. In reality many of these things are unalterable by my actions. Understanding how much influence we have on the outcome is key to how much pressure we feel.

The point is that many things in life ARE difficult. So let’s save the heavy lifting for those instances and do our best to enjoy the other adventures that come our way.